Oct. 12, 2001
The University of Notre Dame volleyball team (11-3) improved to 6-0 in the BIG EAST with a three game sweep (30-19, 30-20, 30-21) of Villanova (5-9, 1-3) at the Joyce Center Friday afternoon. It was just the first of two conference home games for the Irish this weekend, as Notre Dame will face BIG EAST second-place team, Rutgers, on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 2 p.m.
Senior co-captain Marcie Bomhack led the Irish attack against the Wildcats with a season-high 12 kills on .391 hitting. The Irish outside hitter also assisted on two of Notre Dame’s nine team blocks in the match.
Notre Dame jumped out to a three-point lead in game one and never looked back. At one point in the first game, the Irish strung together five consecutive kills and an ace to transform a 16-10 lead into an insurmountable 21-10 advantage.
Villanova mimicked the Irish game-one start by scoring the first three points of the second game, but Notre Dame quickly recovered behind the jump serve of sophomore Jessica Kinder.
Kinder stepped back to serve with the Irish trailing by three points, but her powerful jump serve kept the Villanova offense off track while Notre Dame strung together eight consecutive points. Two aces from Kinder, who would score a career-best five aces in the match, were included in the point streak along with two kills from senior Kristy Kreher, a kill from senior Malinda Goralski, a kill from Bomhack and a block by Kreher and Goralski. A 4-1 Wildcat edge was instantly transformed into a 9-4 Notre Dame lead.
Game two continued to be the Jessica Kinder show, as the second-year outside hitter would total three kills and three aces as Notre Dame jumped ahead 2-0 in the match.
In game three the Irish concentrated on the Villanova hitting percentage, which peaked at .294 in game two. Notre Dame’s blocking, which has been outstanding over the past few weeks, finally made a its appearance in the third and deciding game. Sophomore Kim Fletcher assisted on three of four Irish team blocks in the match-clinching game, while Bomhack scored five kills and two block assists.